I started painting the summer of ‘17, about half a year after I flew back to Tokyo after deciding to take time off university in Toronto. Growing up in a small white town near Toronto to a Japanese mother and Canadian father, and spending my entire teen years in the middle of Tokyo, I spent my whole life feeling like an outsider, wanting to understand my identity. Having grown up with the internet made it harder to do so, as it made it easier for me to identify with the contrived image that others projected onto me, and in turn, what I then learned to project to the world. I think it’s fair to say I spent my entire life up to the point I left Toronto, trying to please not only the close people in my life, but complete strangers on social media. I collapsed under pressure only months after starting university, which sent me back home to live with my parents.

I’d always been interested in art, but I had never taken it up seriously, until one summer day I picked up a paintbrush and noticed just how free and meditative the practice was. I realized when I am painting, I am completely in the zone, not caring about the opinions of others. Ever since, I’d been using my art as a way to explore my identity in the modern world, and express my Self without shame.

I tend to do a lot of thinking when it rains, as cheesy as that sounds. My main inspiration is the way I feel when I am especially sensitive, and I try to express that by giving it a physical form on canvas. I also enjoy stopping to look at the colours and shapes of objects in the streets that catch my eye, or the way the light hits a person’s facial features.

3. 一番影響を受けた作品は？誰の作品？

Is there a specific work of art that made an impact on you? Who is the artist?

私が特に好きな作品はルネ・マグリットの「イメージの裏切り(これはパイプではない)」。

彼の作品のメッセージは単純ですが、とても効果的にイメージの欺瞞を現していると思います。

自分の「イメージ」と「アイデンティティ」は全く異なるコンセプトだと気づかせてくれた。この考えは私のアートのテーマになっています。

One of my favourite works is called “The Treachery of Images (Ceci n’est pas une pipe)” by René Magritte. I love the way he simply, but effectively, shows how images are deceitful by default. Magritte’s work has really helped me see how my image and identity are two complete different concepts.This thought is a recurring theme in my art.

4. ペインター以外にも別の活動をしてる？ どんな仕事？

What do you do outside of painting? What kind of job?

ペインターと同時にモデルもしています。

高校生のときに事務所に所属し、モデル活動を始めましたが、その当時はうまく向き合うことができなかったですね。

人の目を気に過ぎて、カメラが向けられるのが嫌でした。

それと比べ、今の私は自由な動き方・表現方法がわかるようになりました。

撮影のとき、カメラの前でキャラクターを演じているのは確かですが、キャンバスに向かうときと同じように「無」になれます。

「自分」を色と線の代わりに、身体の動きと表情で表しています。

近いうちに大学に戻り、自分の創造性、表現力を深めたいと思っています。

Outside of painting, I also model, which I also find very liberating (although when I say this I realize I am walking on dangerous territory). I remember when I first started modeling in high school, I was not very good at it, if anything I was terrified of having the camera pointed in my direction, as I cared way too much about how others viewed me. Now, although I am still technically “playing a character” in front of the camera, I find that I am very much in tune with myself. I go into a photoshoot as I do sitting down in front of a canvas. I pose to express my inner self, but with facial expressions and bodily movements, instead of colours and lines.

I’m hoping to go back to university soon to learn how to further explore and harness my creativity.

5. 何色が一番好き？ またそれはなぜ？

What is your favorite color and why?

よく聞かれれる質問ですが、「これ」っていう答えはありません。

自分の気分によって変わります。今は暗いトルコ石色と明るいオレンジ色が自分を現していると思います。

妹によく私はマゼンタか紫のオーラを出していると言われますよ。

I’ve been asked this a lot, but I never have a straight answer. Depending on my mood it changes. A dark turquoise and bright orange colour together really make up how I feel in this very moment.